


One Step Closer

by TenkeyLess



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Canon Fix-It, Gen, In Game Dialogue, Patch 5.0: Shadowbringers Spoilers, ambiguous WoL
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-24
Updated: 2019-10-25
Packaged: 2021-01-02 04:37:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21155732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TenkeyLess/pseuds/TenkeyLess
Summary: What if you and Ardbert had Rejoined sooner?What if you met with Emet-Selch in the Tempest with the Light under control and your soul one step closer to whole?What do you think he would do, then?





	1. Chapter 1

"Do you believe it then, that shade Hythlodeus?" 

You turn back from the desk in the Bureau of the Architect, with permission to enter the Capitol newly secured. Ardbert stands beside you, still, as promised at the start of this adventure. Your friend and confidant on this Shard, he appears uneasy at these newest revelations. 

"About us? That we were known to them as another?" Ardbert nods sharply. Hand raising to your chin in contemplation, you consider the shade's words.

It would be the height of coincidence if you had met Ardbert under other circumstances, however your meetings both on the Source and the First were orchestrated. Initially by Elidibus and then again by Minfilia,_ your _Minfilia, when the Flood consumed this Shard. The light that shone when you touched Ardbert was also an oddity. While you were sometimes privy to spirits that appeared to no other, they had never affected you. And that light you shared, softer and oddly_ familiar_, in stark contrast to the hungry aether barely contained within your heart. 

Your hand leaves your chin and you turn to face Ardbert head on. 

"Do you remember what Minfilia said to you, when you rose to sacrifice yourself one hundred years ago?"  
He starts, surprised by your knowledge of events unshared. You can see the question of how rise and clear away. The echo, your shared condition, possibly another tie to these ancient people. Instead, he answers your question.

"Yes, there's little else my current state has left me to consider all this time. Why spare me that fate to condemn me instead to this...this silent hell."  
"Perhaps Minfilia meant for us to meet again, to--", and here you pause, uncertain of how your vulnerable companion will take this, "to rejoin together."

Seeing his face close off, stony as your first meeting, spurs you to further explanation.  
"You know the light aether is cracking me, threatening my soul. It's hard enough seeing past the film on my eyes with it bleaching everything white. If we_ are_ two pieces of a whole, mayhaps_ together_ we can contain it?"

His stony countenance softens slightly in consideration, but as he opens his mouth to speak--

_Bright_\--

_CRACKING_\--

You faintly hear his shouts as you slam to the floor. Retching, white bile hissing against the flagstones, and the din of cracking crystal ringing loud in your _soul_\--

"You cannot turn! Not here, not now. Fight it!"

His hands hover, hesitant, above your convulsing form. He draws a deep breath, chest expanding to hold no air, and steels himself.

"Take my strength."

Plunging his hands into your back, you arc, screaming as _Light all consuming_\--

_Light so familiar_\--

_Two fragments melt **together**_\--

And all is _quiet_, the only sounds in the Bureau are your gasping sobs, not enough air in the _world_ to soothe your racing heart. Slowly, so slowly, your breath returns to its normal pace and you first notice your vision has cleared. No Light muffles your senses, cocooning haze sundered and its constituent aether contained safely within. You gaze down at your hands in wonder. Nothing more than ordinary, no longer a hard marbled texture, they feel like_ flesh_ once again. Yours. At your core you can feel the primal aether writhing, still a danger, but firmly surrounded by your newly rejoined self. 

"Ardbert..."

His gift to you, his self, now joined with yours to steer this Shard’s fate. Your hands creak, tightly fisted against the floor, as your tears speckle the ground in harsh contrast to the puddles of vile, tainted aether you left just moments ago. You exhale, a shuddering fragile sound, and pick yourself up off the floor. There is the Exarch, an old friend, to save. And another older friend to confront.

* * *

When you find the Scions outside the Capitol building, Ryne is the first to gasp at your return. The others turn, confused and alarmed, save for Y'shtola. Her face creases in confusion and wonder. 

"My friend, you are... How came you to be whole?" Her hand stretches out to you, cautious yet hopeful at this development. Urianger and Thancred take their cues from her, their aetheric sorceress, and face you with bright hope in their eyes. The twins forgo any such dignity, and fling themselves at you.

"You are whole?"

"You'll not turn?" They briefly stagger you with their enthusiasm, and you chuckle as you catch them in a gentle hug.

"I know not the mechanics of it myself, save for the brave soul that made it possible." Ryne leaps upon you then, and you go down in a heap of tear-filled joy.

"The cracks, they're gone! As if they never were, and your soul is all the brighter!" She nuzzles her head into you, and you spare a hand from the twins embrace to pat her soothingly.

"How cameth thee to this most welcome state of affairs, dear Warrior?" Urianger and Thancred offer a hand each to you, and you slowly extricate yourself from the happy pile.

"Something one of the shades said sparked it. To speak further would take more time than we can afford, however. And it is a story that is owed its due." You raise your hands in supplication, as you watch your allies weigh the Exarch's time against your miraculous stabilization. Thancred is the first to move, punching your shoulder with familiar ease, "We'll hold you to that, friend. Perhaps over a drink or three at the Wandering Stairs?"

Your relieved smile is all he needs, and the group forms back up. Ready to enter the Capitol building, Emet-Selch's lair within his lair, you all square up and move forward as one.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What would it take to change the course of a Shard? To change the course of tempered fate?

So predictable, so _disappointing_. It really is a good thing he has the Exarch as his consolation prize. He taps his heels against the crystal platform, arms braced at his sides. His seat overlooks the burning star, an ever present reminder of the stakes at play. Warm air from a passing meteor stirs his skirts in a short lived breeze, and he sighs. No time to rest. He's felt the Bringer of Light’s entry to Amaurot along with their hangers on. They're nearly at the Capitol building now, scurrying about outside.

What to do about those interlopers…

"What do you think, dear Exarch?" Hades casts a lazy glance back to the prone miqo'te. "Your_ precious inspiration _has arrived, glutted with Light, along with the rest of their merry band. However did you manage to miss summoning their singular soul, and end up with_ every bloody Scion instead _hmm?" 

A pained groan is his response.

Emet-Selch has not been...kind to his guest. Frustration at his wretched hope meted out against its architect, though he knows it is the Warrior that is ultimately responsible for this deplorable state of mind. He rises, dusting off his skirts with a few soft pats, and pads over to the Exarch. A light kick to his ribs turns the man over, as he curls up in instinctive pain. 

If the tower-bound fragment will not _break_, perhaps he will_ bend_ to his inspiration. Emet-Selch's lips turn up in a cruel smile. After the Exarch's charade on Mt. Gulg, he would surely wish to see and unburden himself to the Warrior. And after Emet-Selch deals with Hydaelyn’s champion and assumes their appearance, well, may it never be said that Hades is a poor actor.

Once he's wrung the hoarded knowledge from the stubborn creature, he can simply feed the Exarch to the newly turned lightwarden. Together with his _precious inspiration_ at last. A tidy solution.

So little of this journey has been_ tidy_.

* * *

"This really is unacceptable. I gave you very specific instructions." Black tendrils appear and dissipate, delivering the Ascian into your company.  


"My invitation was for an abomination, ripe with the power to bring about the world's annihilation. But what is this?" He pauses mid-stride, eyes widening. “You half-broken thing, _what have you done_.”

Arms crossed, you meet his stupefied glare. It seems, for once, you have genuinely surprised the ancient. It's a heady sensation, calling to something almost forgotten within you. 

"I've done my part, Emet-Selch." You extend a hand, palm up to the Ascian. 

Vision suddenly blurring, you recognize the echo overtaking your senses. Your hand withdraws to clutch at your head, more from habit than need, as the expected pang of headache does not come.

A fuzzy scene unfolds before you, and you recognize the stately exterior of the Bureau of the Architect. A trio of the tall shades stand before you, though their masks are unlike what you've encountered in the Tempest thus far. Two are deep red, akin to those of the Paragons you've faced. The third one is white, with intricate scrollwork across the mask.

<<_Hades, you cannot keep sleeping through meetings._>> One of the red masked beings intones, and though their bell-like voice is nothing like your spoken tongue, you can feel the exasperation.

<<_Dear friend, perhaps your scolding would be better received over dinner? I would be happy to host the two of you._>> The cheerful figure in the white mask adds.

<<_Hythlodaeus…_>> The second red masked being grumbles, and with a shock you realize_ they are Emet-Selch_. Your conversation in Rak'tika bubbles to the surface of your memory, and you recall his story of titles and names. _Names_. Armed with this new knowledge, you feel the echo's grip begin to fade.

"Not Emet-Selch..." Your vision slowly returns to the present, mind overfull with new realizations. Of you. Of him.

"...Hades."

The Ascian across from you stills, eyes wide with disbelief.

"You--"

He strides forward, fast, faster than you've seen him move before. In an instant his hand is on your chin, turning your face this way and that. You hear the Scions rouse behind you, ready to intervene but for your discrete hand signal to hold position. Hades' voice is low and raspy, inciting a chill across your spine. 

"What do you_ remember_." A dozen dozen moments flit by in your mind, constant thread tied to those golden eyes, molten above you. You brace yourself, eyes locking with his.

"Release the Exarch and we will talk." Hades' expression sours, darker than the petulant smirk you've grown accustomed to while traveling alongside each other on this Shard. 

"You_ dare_\--" Your hand on his silences him. 

"I _dare_, Hades." He shivers at your use of his name, eyes squeezing shut. You feel his breath on your cheek as he gives out a bone-deep, weary sigh. 

"Your word, <<_hero_>>." 

>> I give my word.  
>> Earn it, <<_Hades_>>.

>> I give my word.  
Continue on to chapter 3, Remember

>> Earn it, <<_Hades_>>.  
Continue to chapter 4, Forgiven (nsfw)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Jumps into the deep end of self-indulgent fix-it fic_.
> 
> Buckle in for the dual resolution? Both branch chapters will go up at the same time :) (Ch4 with the nsfw content will have additional/appropriate tags in the notes section at the beginning of the chapter).

**Author's Note:**

> Might end up being 3 chapters o/
> 
> I've been wondering, how that final MSQ might have turned out differently if you'd been rejoined just that little bit sooner. Here's to fanfic fixes!
> 
> Thanks as always to the [J&T discord](https://discord.gg/PvbG45u) for their infectious enthusiasm.
> 
> Additional thanks to [smoremoose](https://archiveofourown.org/users/smoremoose) for the beta!


End file.
